Power 'restored' in Karachi after rain wreaks havoc on metropolis

• Karachi witnesses urban flooding, power outages due to heavy rains.
• Electricity suspended due as per existing safety protocols, says KE.
• Power supplier's field teams are actively addressing localised faults.

KARACHI: After prolonged electricity outages in various parts of the metropolis, the power in the country's financial hub has finally been "restored to normal", said K-Electric (KE) on Sunday.

"Power supply to Karachi and adjoining areas was normalised following Saturday's unexpected heavy showers [...] KE field teams remain active in addressing localised faults," the city's primary electricity supplier said in a statement.

"As per emergency safety protocols, power supply to low-lying areas or those with a high prevalence of kundas was temporarily suspended. These were gradually energised once the weather subsided, following clearance from field teams," it added.

The statement comes after a heavy downpour battered the city's main arteries and roads, bringing life to a halt. The rain continued from Saturday night to early Sunday morning.

A day earlier, several areas of the metropolitan city had been submerged with rainwater and commuters were stuck in their vehicles as the city administration had not taken any measures to cope with the rain, despite the Pakistan Meteorological Department's (PMD) forecast of heavy rain.

Commuters faced troubles due to accumulated water mixed with sewage overflowing from choked lines on most of the roads, including MA Jinnah Road and II Chundrigar Road.

With the first drop of rainfall, different parts of the port city, including North Nazimabad and its suburban areas, plunged into darkness due to an electricity supply failure.

As per the statistics issued by the weather department, the maximum amount of rainfall was recorded in Baldia Town (64mm) followed by Surjani Town (62mm).

Orangi Town received 52.2mm, Karachi Airport 41.8mm, Nazimabad received 23.5mm, University Road 29.8mm, North Nazimabad 33.6mm and Gulshan-e-Maymar 23mm of rain.

So far, at least one fatality has been reported in the city after a body, identified as Fakhar-e-Alam, was found in a rainwater drain in Karachi's Baldia Town area.

The deceased, a factory worker, was a father of five and had gone missing on his way home from work, the police confirmed.

Due to yesterday's rain spell, parts of the city’s main artery Sharea Faisal were completely submerged with water, and scores of cars broke down which further disrupted the traffic movement on Saturday night.

As the rainwater entered the Drigh Road underpass and could not be drained for a long period, chaos ensued on Sharea Faisal.

No emergency response by the city administration showed as if the rain had taken them by surprise and they had no preparations.

The Gizri underpass was also flooded with rainwater and was closed to traffic movement.

District Central’s Nagan Chowrangi, Five Star Chowrangi, Disco Mor, and Surjani Town were also completely flooded with rainwater.

In a few areas, rainwater also entered houses. In District East, the under-construction University Road was completely flooded with rainwater bringing traffic to a standstill for hours.

Meanwhile, the Met Office forecast has ruled out the possibility of further rainfall as it predicts partly cloudy weather to persist in the city on Monday (tomorrow) and Tuesday.